Continuing in the Joy of the Resurrection and Moving Beyond!

Transcription

1 VOLUME 27 NUMBER 5 May 2018 Continuing in the Joy of the Resurrection and Moving Beyond! Dearest Spiritual Ohana, Christ is risen! Truly He is risen! Sunday Luncheon, our paschal egg preparers, those who helped make our Paschal Picnic so special, and all! We continue in the Joy of the Resurrection thru the first half of May and move into the celebration of the Ascension of our Lord (May 17th) and into Pentecost (May 27th) towards the end of the month. A most blessed and beautiful season continues and also draws to an end, with closing of the Liturgical Book of the Pentecostarion with the celebration of the Sunday of All Saints, on June 3rd. I pray that the joy of this season remains radiant and bright at all times, in your hearts! It is the Holy Spirit that keeps our hearts illumined with the remembrance and glorification of Almighty God. It is with every Sunday, that we commemorate the Lord s Resurrection. The word Sunday, in fact, in Greek, means the Lord s Day. I take this time to thank each of you for your part in helping to make Holy Week and Pascha a wonderful, fulfilling and memorable experience! I would like to recognize all, without mentioning specific names, for the following, plus more: donations towards flowers for the Tomb (Kouvouklion) and all items needed throughout Holy Week, our Parish Council who undertook coverage for the many services, the women who decorated the Tomb, the Myrrhbearers, our chanters, our choir, our readers, our altar servers, donors and preparers of the fish for the Palm I congratulate our newly confirmed devout and faithful new ohana members of our Cathedral who were chrismated on Holy Saturday, April 7th: Tracy (Alexandra) Boval, Kamal (Mercurius) and Ginger (Mary) Abadir. We are so blessed to have them! I look forward to another upcoming Chrismation very soon, and the spiritual formation of several new Catechumens who are making their journey on the road towards Orthodoxy! 1 The Holy Spirit is at work! I pray that the Holy Spirit fills this very community of our faithful and illumines and enlightens each and every one of our hearts and souls! Being that we are coming to the Celebration of Holy Pentecost, the Coming of the Holy Spirit, I would like to share with you great pearls of wisdom from a few of the Holy Fathers, namely St. Gregory Dialogos and St. Gregory Palamas on this Great Feast. St Gregory Dialogos tells us: And my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him [John 14.23]. My friends, consider the greatness of this solemn feast that commemorates God s coming as a guest into our (Continued on page 2)

2 Christians and the Church with God s continual Presence. We each are important members of the Body of Christ, His Church, and we must make sure that we make room for the Holy Spirit to enter our own hearts and lives and to share the Grace of the Spirit with all those who we come in contact with throughout our lives. Just as a large jigsaw puzzle has many pieces, each piece being important, so are each one of us as individual pieces/members in God s Divine Plan. (Continued from page 1) hearts! If some rich and influential friend were to come to your home, you would promptly put it all in order for fear something there might offend your friend s eyes when he came in. Let all of us then who are preparing our inner homes for God cleanse them of anything our wrongdoing has brought into them. + St. Gregory Dialogos, on Pentecost in Be Friends of God As members of our Saints Constantine Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Pacific, we have the awesome responsibility to share the Grace of the Holy Spirit with one another and the world around us, which means that with the array of variety of God-given gifts and talents given to every one of us, we each play an important role in each other s enlightenment and salvation. One simple analogy: We had many leftover palm branches in the Social hall on Palm Sunday. When each shared in removing them, their removal went efficiently and smoothly. So it is with God s work! THE GRACE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT BE WITH ALL OF YOU! With Love in Christ, +Fr. Alexander And St. Gregory Palamas, with an emphasis on Apostolic Succession, offers us this: If from one burning lamp someone lights another, then another from that one, and so on in succession, he has light continuously. In the same way, through the Apostles ordaining their successors, and these successors ordaining others, and so on, the grace of the Holy Spirit is handed down through all generations and enlightens all who obey their shepherds and teachers. + St. Gregory Palamas, On how the Holy Spirit was manifested and shared out at Pentecost The Holy Spirit, throughout the Centuries and up until today, is continuously filling our lives as Shorelines is published Monthly by: Saints Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Pacific 930 Lunalilo Street Honolulu, Hawaii Phone : (808) Fax : (808) office@greekorthodoxhawaii.org Parish Web Site: Regular Office Hours: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday thru Friday Rev. Father Alexander M. Leong fralexanderleong@yahoo.com Church Staff Malick, Greg Malick, Maria Naval, Amanda Jackson - Office Coordinator Dimitri Nicholas, & Katherine Pasieta office@greekorthodoxhawaii.org Philoptochos Board Erica Jansen - Bookkeeper Anita Akel, President; Anita Higashi, 1st 2018 Parish Council Vice President; Eres Eddy, 2nd Vice pc@greekorthodoxhawaii.org President; Ludmyla Solyar,Treasurer; Trish Kiladis, President Julie Ličina, Recording Secretary; Valentina Varovaya, Corr. Secretary; Scott Pasieta, Vice President Alma Chu, Advisor Roni Katsikas, Treasurer Choir-Chanters Tyrone-Stavros Emery, Secretary Orest Saikevych, Music Director John Kiladis, Cleopatra Kritikos, Susan Gregory Malick, Protopsaltis Shaindlin, Dimitri Nicholas, and Parish Ministries Andrew Tujios. Stelio Scordilis, Aloha Youth Choir; Sunday School Director T.B.A., Bookstore; Dianna Graves, Presbytera Nicole Leong Greek Dance Groups; Stelio Scordilis, Sunday School Teachers Greek School; Julie Ličina Web Master; Shawn Chu, Peter Katsikas, Alice Anita Higashi, Facebook 2

3 LITURGICAL LIFE OF OUR PARISH WEEKDAY SERVICES IN MAY ST. JOHN THE THEOLOGIAN Tue. 5/8 Orthros/Liturgy 8:30/9:30 am GREAT VESPERS Wed. 5/16 Vespers 6:30 pm ASCENSION OF OUR LORD Thu. 5/17 Orthros/Liturgy 8:30/9:30 am STS. CONSTANTINE & HELEN Mon. 5/21 Orthros/Liturgy 8:30/9:30 am MAUI SERVICES SAT. OF SOULS Sat. 5/26 Orthros/Liturgy/Mem. 9:30/10:30 am 5/6 Dimi 5/13 Stavros 5/20 Scott 5/27 Susan May Parish Council Teams Announcements Please remember in your prayers Judy Economou Dina Giannakopoulos Paul Kelley Julie Licina Alice Marie Malick The Melzack Family George Missias John Mitsis Tuohy Family (flood recovery) and all those needing our prayers. Adult Religious Education Understanding the Divine Liturgy Sunday, May 6th Litany of Peace conclusion 12 to 12:45 p.m. T.B.A. (To Be Announced) Antiphons 12 to 12:45 p.m. Did you know that when you shop at AmazonSmile, Amazon will donate 0.5% of eligible smile.amazon.com purchases to our church?! It s so easy! All you have to do is shop via Happy shopping! Learn Greek! Beginners Sunday 1:00 2:00 PM Thursday 5:30 6:30 PM Intermediate Sunday 12:00 1:00 PM Advanced Tuesday 6:00 8:00 PM 3

4 We are initiating a Welcoming Ministry and would like your ideas. Let s get together on May 6th & May 13th at coffee hour to discuss. If interested, contact Alexandra Tracy Boval or Amanda Jackson at the church office, Share your news! Announcements that you would like to see in the June/July issue of Shorelines should be submitted to the church office by May 15th. Weekly Bulletin announcements should be submitted by noon on Thursday for the upcoming Sunday. office@greekorthodoxhawaii.org Our Vision To be a beacon of Orthodoxy in the Pacific and proclaim the Gospel of Christ to all people in accordance with the Orthodox Faith Our Mission To proclaim the Gospel of Christ to all people in accordance with the Orthodox Faith. To sanctify and minister to the spiritual growth and needs of the faithful through liturgical worship and spiritual programs. To safeguard and keep the traditions, values, and faith of the Orthodox Church pure and undefiled. Call: Or drop by with a copy of your announcement. Maui Orthodox Christian Mission reminds those who attend services on Maui to visit or call to verify services. or look for other activities that may be posted. 4

5 Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen! Aloha Everyone, May has two big events planned for the Sunday School Ministry. One is the Faith Expression Festival on Sunday, May 20 th. What is it? It is an event in which our students present and share their faith, expressing in a way they feel most comfortable. The students selected various formats for their presentations. Some will offer a speech, others will sing songs or will prepare a presentation board, a slide or a video. The purpose of the event is to give the children an opportunity to search for God in their lives and hearts and learn how to share their findings with others. On that day, the Sunday School will be hosting the coffee hour with generous donations for the main dish & cooking by Mrs. Niki Panagakis along with salad, fruit and dessert offered by the parents. The students took their time in preparing their presentations. Please show your support to them by being there to listen and watch what they would like to share with you. The other event is the Graduation & Promotion on Sunday, May 27 th. We will end the school year with a small ceremony. Let s recognize, celebrate and honor all the students for their participation and all the teachers for their continuous dedication. There will be our annual Sunday School Sundae for all on that day! Sunday School will be off during the summer and resume, once again, in September. Please stay tuned! We will be planning to have a Family Night in August to welcome our new and 5 returning families. It will be an opportunity to get to know our Sunday School teachers/volunteers and other children s families in a relaxed, fun environment. Also, it will be helpful for us to plan the new school year by knowing one another more. Classes will be off, but the Sunday School Ministry will not be completely off during summer. It is the time for us to review this passing school year and plan for the upcoming school year. I have already started to review the year and found that it needs help in improving the ministry. The teachers are already very busy planning weekly lessons, and my skills are very limited in making more improvements. I need to ask for help from YOU! Please consider whether you can help the Sunday School Ministry by volunteering for the tasks below: Photographers/Videographers --- take pictures and videos of our activities throughout the year, then share them with parents and help create a year book Event Coordinators --- Plan a Philanthropy activity, a fundraiser, a field trip, etc. Oratorical Festival Chairs --- Promote and plan the Oratorical Festival Sunday School News Editor for our Church Website --- Prepare and turn in the news to our Church Webmaster Snack Coordinator --- Coordinate with parents in providing snacks for students/ teachers and keeping the snack shelves and areas clean and fresh Teachers, Assistant Teachers --- We always need them! Please let us know if you are interested in any of the above. In Christ, Pres. Nicole, Sunday School Director

6 Axios List for Agape Picnic Thank you to Steven from Olive Tree for generously continuing Savas' legacy by providing the soup for the Resurrection Service and the lamb on the spit for the Agape Picnic. Chris Papidinof, thank you for stepping up to do the lamb on the spit, and your octopus was delicious! Many thanks to Ritchel Padidinof for your unconditional love and helping with whatever we needed. Thank you! Alma and Cliff Chu we can't thank you enough for raising such caring young adults. We couldn't have made it without the help of Jeremy, Shawn, Nate, and their friends setting up and preparing meals. They were unbelievable from beginning to end! I don't know anyone with a bigger heart or more loving arms than our Kumbara, Georgia Vouloumanos, who made the most delicious Greek potatoes you will ever eat! Thank you for everything you do! We love you! Many thanks! Many thanks to our bartender and bartendress, Manuel and Rhoda Banasihan! You did an excellent job, and we couldn't have done it without you! Well, there are no words for our entertainers! Nonstop bouzouki from George and Dimi! I don't know if they took a break at all. It showed the love they have in their hearts to keep all of us happy. Your music kept all of us kicking and gave our picnic life. Thank you with all my love. Dimi Marmash is so kind and always so generous and there for us! Thank you for bringing your sound system and setting it up. Dimitri Xixis, thank you! You never say no, no matter what! Thank you for setting up the tents. You are a very special person, and you mean so much to my family. Many thanks to my family, John, Jeptha, and Maryanti. Without their help, I couldn't do this work. God has given me the best in the world, and I need nothing more. Dianna and Barry, you folks are very dear to us, when we have no energy left at the end of the events. For that kindness, I want to thank you on behalf of my family with love. Thank you to all who supported us to help make this year's Agape Picnic a success! We couldn't have done it without you! You are all Axios! With love, The Eres Family 6

7 Dance Group News Dance Group ELECTION FUNDRAISER Primary Election Saturday August 11, 2018 General Election Tuesday November 6, 2018 Consider volunteering for the ELECTIONS and earn a STIPEND and DONATE it to the DANCE GROUP while you do your CIVIC DUTY. Visit www. elections.hawaii.gov see DIANNA for details on this FUNDRAISER. Recycle Recycle Recycle keep those ONLY HI 5 Aluminum cans, Plastic bottles, and Glass bottles coming. We are ever grateful to those Parishioners who have donated to this continual Dance Group Fundraiser. In addition, Thank You to the Parishioners who leave bags of recycles in the Recycle Bin at church for Dance Group. Mahalo... Happy Mother's Day to all our church Mothers. Mahalo, Dianna, Dance Group Director C O F F E E H O U R Each individual/family is requested to sponsor a coffee hour one Sunday per year. Sign up on the calendar posted outside the Social Hall or contact Suzanne A. or Frances R. Instructions/tips for sponsoring a coffee hour are available in a 3-ring binder in a cupboard in the hall. The Ladies of Philoptochos appreciate any donations of coffee supplies, including paper supplies to help defray some of the coffee hour expenses. If you are hesitant to prepare and serve a coffee hour yourself, consider making a monetary donation. Please do not bring non-lenten food including cake & ice cream during fasting periods. Thank you to our April Sponsors! Sunday Coffee Hour sponsors! 4/1 Ladies Philoptochos Society 4/15 Hallonquist/Cooper 4/22 Stavrue-Peahi 4/29 Boval-Horiachi 7

8 THE HOLY SPIRIT Excerpt taken from A Popular Presentation of Orthodox Christianity: Our Faith The Holy Spirit is God, the third person of the Holy Trinity; proceeds from the Father; is sent into the world by Jesus Christ; inspires God s People to speak God s Truth and to do His will; and is the giver of life who upholds and sustains creation in its existence, life and growth. Fifty days after his Resurrection, Jesus Christ sent the Holy Spirit upon His disciples. THE HOLY SPIRIT There is one Holy Spirit who is God and who is revealed to men through the Son. He is the Image of the Son the Perfect of the Perfect; Life the Cause of the Living, the Holy Fountain; Sanctity the Dispenser of Sanctification; in whom is revealed God the Father who is above all and in all, God the Son who is through all. -Saint Gregory Thaumaturge THE DAY OF PENTECOST When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit -Acts 2:1-4 WHAT DOES JESUS SAY ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT? And I will pray to the Father, and He will give you another Counselor, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him or knows Him; you know Him, for He dwells with you, and will be in you. -John 14:16-17 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. -John 14:26 ***Also see John 16:13-15*** Communion Hymn of Pentecost Your good Spirit shall lead me into the land of uprightness. Alleluia. (Translation taken from new.byz.org) 8